The World Conference on Disaster Reduction was held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, 18 to 22 January 2005. The Conference was organized to take stock of progress made on disaster risk reduction since the Yokohama Conference of 1994 and to plan for the next ten years.
The main outcome of the conference, the Hyogo Declaration and Hyogo Framework for Action, represent a strong commitment from the international community to address disaster reduction and to engage in a determined, results-based plan of action for the next decade: 2005-2015.
The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters, is a global blue print for disaster risk reduction efforts with a ten-year plan. It contains guidelines to reduce vulnerabilities to natural hazards. The HFA assists the efforts of nations and communities to become more resilient to, and cope better with the hazards that threaten their development gains.
HFA has five (5) priorities for action:
- Make disaster risk reduction a priority
- Know the risks and take action
- Build understanding and awareness
- Reduce risk
- Be prepared and ready to act
It also outlines who is responsible for implementing disater risk reduction (DRR) and the HFA at all levels: state, regional and international organizations.
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